COLLECTOR'S EDITION : : LED ZEPPELIN 'UPON REQUEST' SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY 1973 :: HEAR ROCK CITY

We have mentioned the legendary Great Missing Live Bootleg of Led Zeppelin at SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY back in 1973 before and I still consider it the best ROIO of Led Zeppelin in their absolute prime. The volume and balance is fantastic and whilst the vocal takes a few phrases to get adjusted it is two albums worth of material that in my opinion is even better than THE MOTHERSHIP official release of Live Zepp!

Led Zeppelin - The Great Lost Bootleg v.2 - Hear Rock City

Hear Rock City says:

And As We Wind On Down The Road...

Another mega Zeppelin show.

Touring the all killer no filler fourth album.*

This time from Southampton,UK and the venue

is the university.

Looks like you got your moneys worth

at a Zep show,seems they would

play all night if they could.

* well by then Houses of The Holy had been released so it doesn't really feature specifically the 4th album per se but their entire output to date but anyway it is amongst the best performances ever and catches them at their absolute pinnacle. 

From here things started to go down hill after the tour takings (over a million dollars for the last nights takings in todays money!) were robbed from a hotel in New York and the excessive purchase of Hammerwood Park didn't really work as a stately home sized recording studio and failed and was boarded up in 1976. In 1975 Robert and his wife suffered a terrible car crash Plant suffered a broken ankle and Maureen was badly injured; a blood transfusion saved her life which required much of the following 12 months recuperating and they did not tour the following year. In 1977 Robert's beloved son Karac died of a terrible stomach illness aged 5. By the time 'Presence' was released that hit fans hard and was a critical failure for many (me included) and the signs from their live performances showed dark forces afoot and the indulgences of excess had really begin to take their toll. Presence received a mixed reaction among fans and the music press alike, with some critics suggesting that the band's excesses may have caught up with them. Page had begun using heroin during recording sessions for the album, a habit which may have affected the band's later live shows and studio recordings, although he has since denied this personally I think you can even hear his descent into chaos and then in 1980 John Bonham dies from his alcoholism and medication side effects. The song was pretty much over . . . . . . . . . 

Robert has of course gone on to rehabilitate himself and began his swansong of reinvention and apart from sporadic projects with Page, Plants musical direction has gone to other places revealing a new creativity reborn and hidden strengths (see Ailson Krauss, and Sensational Space Shifters

There are other versions of this Southampton  concert available  but they are largely the same and alter in only settings of balance and you could mistake them all for the other with a little tweaking of the graphic qualifier IMHO.

Enjoy! and TURN IT UP!